Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit the Complete Season 2

Episode 19: The Honey Island Project, part 1

Featured Cryptid: Honey island swamp monster

Our episode opens up with a flashback to 1974 at Animal X's top secret facility in Honey Island swamp, Louisiana where the Honey Island project took place where we see a young Blake Leeds introducing himself to fellow members of the 13 scientists including Michelle Duffy, Alex Rylander, Daniel's parents, and Doctor Numero Uno (get it?) along with introducing them to his daughter Nina who shakes her hands with Duffy, saying that she's looking forward to working with them. She then gives Blake and Nina a tour of the facility and it is here we finally get to learn what the mysterious Honey Island project really is: an attempt at cloning cryptids to save them from extinction, Duffy showing Blake, Nina, and the other scientists around the facility entering a room called "the freezer" where they keep DNA samples of over a hundred cryptid species in cold storage. Blake notices that Uno is missing, and Duffy says that he must have taken off into the gestation chamber. the scientists rush in to the gestation chamber where the cryptid clones are grown in test tubes, only to find Doctor Uno tinkering with one of the test tubes containing a hairy reptilian humanoid growing inside it. Daniel's father asks Uno what has gotten into him, and Uno explains that he made this masterpiece by splicing Bigfoot, Human, and Alligator DNA together. Uno then reveals to the other scientists that he's an agent of the black dot this entire time hired to infiltrate Animal X and sabotage the Honey Island project. the creature's eyes open before it suddenly bursts out of its test tube, some of the tube's amniotic fluid getting into Blake's eyes causing him to go blind. the other scientists evacuate the premises while Nina stays behind refusing to leave her father's side. the monster then goes on a rampage destroying the lab while Uno escapes with some documents, the same ones we saw in his lab in the episode "Dognapped". as the building collapses around them, Blake tells Nina to run but Nina tells her father that she refuses to leave him behind saying that she's not gonna let him die. as debris falls on both of them, we cut to black. after that, we cut to Blake waking up and pulling himself out of the rubble before pulling his daughter out as well. The now-blinded Blake places his hand on Nina to check if she has a pulse, and he feels nothing. Blake cradles his daughter's lifeless body in his arms and screams "NOOOOO!!!" At the top of his lungs before we cut back to present day where we see Blake wake up in Doctor Uno's lab with his eyesight given back to him. Blake asks what happened, and Doctor Uno tells Blake to relax, telling him that it was the twins who snuck into Animal X HQ to bust him out of prison and bring him back here. Blake asks Uno why the Black Dot went through all this trouble to rescue him, saying that he won't be of much use to Domino since that accursed lizard man tore his robotic arms off. Uno then presents Blake with a brand-new pair of bigger, stronger robotic arms that he built just for the occasion. Blake asks what exactly that "occasion" is as Uno hooks the new arms up to Blake's cyborg body. Uno explains that the monster he created all those years ago to sabotage the honey island project that resulted in the death of poor Nina White is still out there, roaming the Louisiana bayou to this day, the locals have taken to calling it the Honey island swamp monster. Domino wants Blake to go back to the Honey island swamp and kill the monster, to erase the last reminder of that horrific incident for good. After that, we cut to Domino congratulating the twins on a job well done for returning Blake, telling the two that they will be accompanying him to the Honey Island swamp to slay the man-made abomination that stalks the swamps to this day. The twins bow before Domino, exclaiming "yes father!" before leaving the room. Uno then enters Domino's room, Domino asking Uno "is she ready?" and Uno tells Domino that he's gonna need more time to grow the clone he requested, given he's working off a single strand of provided DNA, holding up a bracelet made from strands of braided hair saying that he already used up a good chunk of the hair to create the twins. Domino grabs the bracelet from Uno, telling him that this bracelet is important to him, saying that he made this for his darling Maria back when they were in college as a symbol of their love, which is why he made it from strands of both their hair. Domino gets off his chair and enters Uno's lab to find a clone of Maria being grown in a test tube, placing his hand on the tube saying "don't worry Maria, soon we will be re-united at last". after that, we cut back to Animal X HQ where we see Tony rush to his mom to inform her that Blake is no longer in his prison cell. this catches the attention of Daniel, Natalie, Bill, and Rodney followed by our heroes rushing to Blake's Cell only to find the cell completely empty and several Animal X agents pinned to the wall with familiar-looking knives. Rodney flies around to remove the knives one by one freeing the Animal X agents, followed by Bill asking one agent who did this. the agent tells Bill that two girls disguised as Animal X agents broke in and busted Blake out of his cell. Natalie picks up one of the knives and recognizes it as Dagger's, realizing that the twins were the ones behind this. Helena ponders over why the Black Dot went through all this trouble to break him out, and Bill tells her that they must have something special in store for his half-brother. Bill then gets an incoming transmission from Marcus, Natalie happy to see her brother again (albeit on a computer screen) who informs our heroes that he has discovered Black Dot in the Honey Island swamp of Louisiana, believing that they must be after the elusive Honey Island swamp monster. once the transmission ends, Bill is shooken by the mention of the Honey Island swamp, saying that he was sure that was the last he heard of that wretched place. Daniel asks Bill what he means by that, and Tony reminds Daniel that the Honey Island swamp of Louisiana was the location of the off-site laboratory where the Honey Island project took place, where his father lost his eyesight and where he lost Nina. Daniel asks Bill what the honey Island project exactly was, saying that he never really made it clear when he mentioned it before back in the episode "the devil's curse". Natalie places her hand on Daniel's shoulder and tells him that Bill never told her the details either, he likes to keep information about what really went down in that laboratory to himself, just like everything else. Bill tells her that's not true, saying that he entrusted such knowledge with Helena due to her loyalty to him (again, just like everything else) and Bill tells Helena that given the circumstances it's time they know the truth. Helena reveals to Daniel and Natalie that the off-site laboratory in Honey Island Swamp was actually a cloning facility, showing Daniel and Natalie a holographic image of the facility. she explains that the Honey Island project was meant to help with Animal X's cryptid conservation efforts by collecting cryptid genomes from over 100 different species and clone them in the lab to replenish the dwindling populations caused by human encroachment and habitat destruction. however things went horribly wrong when the project was sabotaged by Doctor Uno, who escaped with documents pertaining to the process of cloning and gene splicing. Daniel is shocked to hear this, saying "that's how he got those documents we found in his laboratory up in Maine!" followed by Helena telling him that's not all, when Uno sabotaged the project, he created what is known as the Honey Island Swamp monster, an abomination of science that still stalks the swamps to this day. Daniel scratches his head upon seeing the holographic image of the monster, saying that it looks like someone crossed an ape with an alligator and that it can't be real. Daniel opens up the cryptozoologicon and finds a page saying [CLASSIFIED] on it. he turns past the page to see an image of the Honey Island swamp monster with random words in its description censored. Tony asks his uncle Bill that if the Black Dot is after the Honey Island swamp monster, why should Animal X bother to save a man-made monstrosity that wasn't meant to exist from being put out of its misery. Helena smacks Tony upside the head, telling her son to hush. Bill explains to Tony that even though the Honey island swamp monster is an unnatural creature, that doesn't make its life matters less. Animal X's job is to help all cryptids, regardless of where they came from. Daniel and Natalie both understand Bill's sentiment and hop in the X-jeep along with Rodney. Tony suddenly hops in the backseat and begs Daniel and Natalie to take him with them, however Helena grabs him by the back of the shirt and tells him absolutely not, saying that she already lost one child and as a mother she can't afford to lose another. Tony blasts his mother with one of his shock gauntlets, telling her that he needs to face his father so that he can have closure. Daniel stands up for Tony, telling her that Tony has proven himself time and time again that he's worthy of being a junior Animal X agent which makes Tony smile. Helena sheds a tear and wishes her son good luck as Tony boards the X-jeep before it takes off. Bill places his hand on Helena's shoulder, telling her it'll be alright before saying "he is my nephew after all. you raised him well" which makes Helena smile. we then cut to the X-jeep flying over the swamps of Louisiana, with Daniel telling Tony that when they land be sure to stick by his side. Tony makes the snarky remark that there's no place to land in sight, saying that the whole place is covered in water. Natalie then says "guess we'll just improvise" followed by Natalie landing the X-jeep into the water, transforming into its boat configuration upon hitting the water's surface. our heroes all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they've landed safely, followed by Natalie pointing out that there's a sandbar up ahead meaning there's land in sight. however our heroes are being watched by the Honey island swamp monster from behind a cypress tree, growling at the sight of intruders on his swamp before commanding a group of nearby alligators to chase after them. after that, we cut to Blake, the twins, and Doctor Uno arriving in Honey Island swamp with Blake asking Uno why he decided to tag along. Uno tells Blake that somewhere in this swamp lies the ruined laboratory where he hopes to find the cryptid DNA samples required for his new invention, a gene-splicing ray that can turn humans into human/cryptid hybrids who's heads would look good on Domino's wall. Dagger tells Uno "well that's dumb" followed by Cloak saying that it sounds like something that a Saturday morning cartoon villain would come up with. Uno rolls his eyes, saying that the two just don't understand his genius. Blake tells Uno that he hopes that this trip doesn't take too long, saying that this place is like a trip down memory lane and not the good kind. Doctor Uno then turns his head to see the parked X-jeep in the water and tells Blake and the twins that those pesky Animal X agents are her and orders them to go after them and eliminate them while he searches for the lab, saying that he'll catch up. we then cut back to the X-jeep in boat mode cruising across the bayou only for them to be surrounded by gators who start circling the vehicle like a bunch of hungry sharks. Daniel and Natalie both realize they're in trouble as both Rodney and Tony start panicking. Natalie grabs Tony and puts him on her back telling him to hold on tight while Rodney hides in Daniel's pocket. Daniel and Natalie both eject from the X-jeep on their jetskis leaping over the jaws of the hungry gators who proceed to give chase. Tony closes his eyes as one of the gators lunges at Natalie's jetski, only for Tony to knock the gator back into the water with one of his shock gauntlets followed by Natalie thanking Tony for the save. Daniel notices one of the gators following him and notices its eyes are glowing an amber color similar to that of the Honey island swamp monster's, and Daniel warns Natalie that the gators are under the influence of an ESPer. the Honey Island swamp monster then rises out of the water to attack Daniel, knocking him off his jetski by whacking him with one of the beast's large muscular arms. Daniel then whips out his grappling hook and fires it at the monster wrapping the cable around his neck. Rodney then flies out of Daniel's pocket and proceeds to fly around the creature's head causing it to become dizzy while Daniel grabs onto the monster's furry moss-covered back. Daniel gags upon getting a whiff of the monster's pungent odor, making the sarcastic comment "ew you smell like a swamp, makes sense since you live in one" followed by the monster turning its head to look at Daniel in the eyes with a toothy grin. Natalie turns her jetski around to go help Daniel, however the monster commands the gators to stop her. Daniel looks at the monster's glowing amber eyes and begins to feel a psychic connection, realizing that the Honey Island swamp monster also has the ESPer gene. Natalie then leaps off her jetski and hops onto each of the backs of each of the gators to make her way to Daniel while Tony still holds onto her back for dear life. Natalie then leaps off the last gator and combines her electric batons into an electric bo-staff mid-air before getting ready to strike before the monster speaks, uttering the words "get out of my swamp" before smacking both Natalie and Tony out of the air sending them crashing into the water below. the honey island swamp monster then reaches to grab Daniel from his back and toss him into the water below. Rodney then flies in to see if his human friends are okay, and Daniel, Natalie, and Tony all get back up on their feet. Natalie is super-mad, saying "okay that's it!" before tearing off her skirt revealing a pair of black shorts underneath. Daniel's eyes widen, shouting "no way, you wear shorts underneath your skirt!?" followed by Natalie turning her head to tell Daniel "told you it was practical for combat" followed by Natalie slamming her electric bo-staff into the water electrocuting the monster along with all the gators knocking them all unconscious. Tony then exclaims "wow Natalie, you sure fried all those gators to a crisp! then again water does conduct electricity so no surprise there". Natalie tells Tony "don't worry, the charge only stunned them. they'll be fine. it's best we get a move on before they wake up even angrier than ever". our heroes then make it to the sandbar and are glad to finally be on dry land again, with Rodney shaking himself off getting water on everyone while Natalie wrings out her hair. Daniel then informs Natalie and Tony that the monster has the ESPer gene, which is how he as able to control the alligators. Tony then sits on a log and whips a handheld device out of his pocket and starts fiddling with it. Daniel then tells Tony that now is not the time to be playing video games. Tony tells Daniel that it's not a video game, it's a GPS pointing how the ruined laboratory is just up ahead. our heroes then suddenly hear a voice saying "looks like you're gonna need a guide" followed by none other than Marcus arriving on the scene on the X-cycle. Marcus hops off the bike to greet his sister, commenting on how there's something different about her. Natalie crosses her arms and says "it's the shorts, isn't it" followed by Rodney nuzzling against Marcus happy to see him again. Daniel breathes a sigh of relief, telling Marcus "boy are we glad to see you" followed Marcus shaking hands with Daniel asking him if he's been taking good care of his sister for him. Daniel says yes, but he hasn't been able to confess his true feelings to her. Tony then asks Marcus where he's been all this time, saying that he hasn't seen him in a while. Marcus tells Tony that he's been training with Kira in the mountains of Japan, he even learned how to forge himself a new pair of blades from the pieces of his old sword, unsheathing his new katana from his back as well as a smaller tanto knife from his side holster, saying that with two blades he'll be able to cut the black dot down to size. Daniel, Natalie, and Tony are all impressed by Marcus's new weapons, followed by Marcus telling the others that he came here because he heard they needed help and that the black dot is on their way to the abandoned laboratory, meaning they have to get there fast before Domino's cronies can uncover whatever secrets lie within that place. Tony then whips out a remote, telling the others that they're lucky to have a tech genius like him around before pressing the button that transforms Daniel and Natalie's jetskis into ATVs allowing them to keep up with Marcus's X-cycle. we then cut to the three driving through the swamp, Daniel and Natalie riding on their ATVs and Marcus riding the X-cycle while Tony rides with Marcus and Rodney follows from above. they are suddenly stopped by a platoon of Black dot grunts who point their guns at our heroes, only for Marcus to un-sheath both his Katana and Tanto, focusing his chi energy into both blades to perform an energy-slash attack knocking all the black dot grunts out in one fell swoop. however our heroes are knocked off their vehicles when none other than cyborg Blake shows up and slams his fist into the ground causing a massive shockwave. Tony looks up to see his father with his new robotic arms, saying "dad?" under his breath. the twins then show up behind Blake, Dagger taunting our heroes by saying "well well well, look who we have here. the little animal X agents decided to come and play!" followed by Cloak sighing and telling her sister "these guys are such a thorn in our side. let's get rid of them, sister". Natalie gets back up and helps Daniel and Tony back up while Marcus whips out both his katana and tanto, telling the twins "I'll take you both on!" before he is lifted into the air by Cloak with her telekinesis telling Marcus "I don't think so" and flings him into the air, however Rodney flies in and catches Marcus before letting him down gently, Marcus thanking the little skyfish for the save while Natalie whips out her electric batons and Daniel whips out his grappling gun. Dagger then fires blades out of her cybernetic arm only for Natalie to deflect them with her batons while Daniel tying his grappling hook around Cloak's hands to stop her from using her telekinesis with her hand-waving. Tony asks his dad why he's re-joined the Black Dot after they took away his eyesight and left him for dead back in "sewer or later", and Blake tells Tony that he and the Black Dot have the same goal: to kill the Honey Island swamp monster, the beast responsible for the loss of his daughter. he goes on to say that only when the beast is slain shall Nina be able to rest in peace. Tony tells his father to snap out of it, saying that he believes there is still some good in him begging for him to come so that they can be a family again. Blake's arm then transforms into a cannon to blast Cloak's hands free from their restraints, Blake tells his son "I'm sorry son, whatever goodness that was left in me died with your sister. I cannot come home to your mother after all that I've done. not until I destroy the Honey Island swamp monster. if you are not with me, you're against me" followed by Blake pointing his cannon arm at Tony who closes his eyes and starts crying, telling his father "if you really mean what you say, if the goodness in you is truly gone, then do it. go ahead, kill me". Daniel, Natalie, Marcus, and Rodney all rush towards Tony to save them, however they are stopped by Cloak who uses her telekinesis to freeze them in place. Blake hesitates to shoot his son, however Tony is suddenly saved by the Honey Island Swamp monster who shows up out of the bushes glaring at Blake and the twins with its glowing amber eyes. Tony opens his eyes to see the the creature letting out a loud roar which intimidates the twins forcing them to retreat leaving Blake to deal with the monster himself. we then cut to Doctor Uno coming across the ruined lab where he finds out the freezer has been left intact. Uno starts grabbing handfuls of vials and putting them in a bag before the twins arrive on the scene to inform Uno that Blake's in trouble. we then cut back to our heroes (and Blake's) confrontation with the Honey island swamp monster. the monster looks at Daniel, Natalie, Tony, and Marcus and tells them "I'm gonna say it again one last time: get out of my swamp" followed by Blake saying "not until I return to Domino with your head" before pointing his arm cannon at the beast followed by Tony grabbing onto his father's arm screaming "dad NO!" causing him to miss. Blake then kicks his son out of the way followed by Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus rushing to Tony's aid while the Honey Island swamp monster then lunges at Blake and bites into one of his cybernetic arms before tearing it off. Blake laughs, telling the creature that trick won't work on him again followed by the severed robo-arm being pulled back into its socket and locking into place via magnetism. Blake then grabs the monster by the neck with one cyber-arm before transforming his other cyber-arm into a chainsaw, telling the beast that he's gonna enjoy killing him for taking his daughter from him. Tony then gets back up and hits Blake in the back with one of his shock gauntlets freeing the monster from his grasp. Uno and the twins arrive on the scene to inform blake that they've got what they came here for, followed by Blake telling Uno that he still hasn't gotten what he came here for, pointing his arm cannon at the monster only for Natalie to deflect the blast with her electric bo-staff forcing Uno and the twins to retreat while Blake gets hit with his own blast knocking him into a nearby tree. Marcus thanks his sister for the save, followed by Natalie telling him "don't mention it, bro". Marcus then tells his sister "I'll take out the cyborg" before charging his katana and tanto up for an energy slash attack while Blake transforms his cyber-arms into a pair of drills to burrow underground evading the attack. Daniel, Natalie, Tony, Marcus, and Rodney rush to the aid of the Honey Island swamp monster who asks our heroes to leave, saying that humans aren't welcome in his swamp followed by a bunch of alligators surrounding them. Daniel turns his head to Natalie and tells her "Natalie, since there's a chance we may not make it out alive being surrounded by hungry alligators and all, there's been something that I've been needing to tell you for a long time..." however Natalie whips out her electric batons and says "whatever it is will have to wait" only for Daniel to grab her hand and say "no, I can't wait any longer, I need you to listen to this" followed by Daniel looking into Natalie's eyes before finally telling her "I love you" which is followed by Tony and Rodney's jaws both dropping while Marcus crosses his arms and says "knew it" in a sarcastic manner. after that, we cut to Doctor Uno contacting Domino via hologram call to inform him that he has collected the cryptid genetic material from the ruins of the former Honey island project laboratory. Domino asks Uno if Blake has slain the honey island swamp monster yet, and Blake tells Domino that he almost had the beast, until those pesky Animal X agents interfered. Domino looks at Blake and tells the cyborg "I sense conflict within you, Mr. Leeds. is that why you didn't just kill those meddling animal X agents?" Blake then responds with "my apologies, Domino. my son was with them, I couldn't bring myself to harm him even if it meant accomplishing the mission. I already lost one child, I can't afford to lose another". Domino looks at Blake with a look of scorn on his face before ending the transmission. after that, we cut to Domino's airship where we see Domino placing his hand on the Maria clone's test tube saying "wake up Maria, the time has come for you re-join the world of the living" and our episode ends on a cliffhanger with clone Maria's eyes opening.